The Mexican Suitcase

The Mexican Suitcase

The Mexican Suitcase directed by Trisha Ziff tells the story of the recovery of 4,500 negatives taken by renowned photographers, Robert Capa, Gerda Taro and David ‚Chim‘ Seymour during the Spanish Civil War and recovered 70 years later, in a closet in Mexico City. Mexican Suitcase looks at the journey of these „lost“ negatives from the war in Mexico, to the exile to France and to Mexico, where they remained safe for more than half a century. Mexican Suitcase also looks at the legacy of the war that Spain has only recently begun to address, after decades of repression and silence.

Trisha Ziff is a well-know curator, director and filmmaker. Ziff made her name in filmmaking with her 2008 directorial debut Chevolution. The documentary follows the strange journey of Alberto Korda’s iconic photograph of Che Guevara—from revolutionary symbol to advertising logo to a sweatshirt image worn by young people who did not even know who the man was.

Trisha Ziff has worked as a curator of photographic exhibits for more than 20 years. Her exhibitions have been shown at international museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, California Museum of Photography, International Center of Photography in New York, and Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City. She has organized shows of Mexican contemporary photography, of the Bloody Sunday incident in Ireland, and of the famous image of Che Guevara.